Challenge Accepted. Again.

Challenge Nation was back in Denver this past Saturday, and once again we proved to be up for the challenge! We reunited with our 2012 Denver Challenge Nation team, Becky and Scott (aka White Rascal & Twinkie), and called ourselves The Lost Shakers of Salt. This year, we came in number one… hundred and twenty-one. Yep, 121. Maybe we didn’t crack the top ten, or even the top 100, but we had a great time! Plus we finished all 12 clues when you’re only required to do 11, so we should get extra credit. Also this year we stopped for a mid-race Slurpee break to help us keep our cool. Despite all of that, we still managed to beat the young hopefuls who we were smack-talking with before the race. Ha! Take that whippersnappers! That right there makes us the real champions of the day.

In 2012 there were moments when things got a little… stressful. It was reallllly hot, and we hadn’t properly prepared for the heat. Things got heated in other ways as well, when we disagreed on where to go next. In short, last time was fun, but there was room for improvement.

This year, we kept our cool, literally and figuratively, and it was even more fun. We started off at Fados Irish Pub, where we fueled up with food and drink before the race. We also stuck around a well after the 1 p.m. start time, choosing to stay inside where it was cool to figure out the clues before hitting the pavement. Pre-gaming and preparation paid off because we had a blast, even if we didn’t get to the finish line any faster.

Because pre-race hydration is important, y’all.

Again this year the clues took hiking all across downtown Denver, from LoDo to Capital Hill. We hula hooped, played air guitar, got into a pirate fight, and left our mark by drawing a giant pot leaf on the sidewalk. Relax, it was done with sidewalk chalk. We visited the Colorado State Capital, the Convention Center, Civic Center Park, Larimer Square, and made a few quick unscheduled detours into a scary tattoo parlor and a very friendly 7-11, for the aforementioned Slurpees. We sought out clowns and old-school mailboxes, you know… typical weekend stuff. Overall we all really enjoyed the hunt. We also loved some of the team costumes this year, like this one…

Blue Never-Nude Man Group

Many folks actually ran the race this year. Apparently there is a prize for the winner? Or maybe they just have more pride than we do. Whatever. That seems totally too extreme for our team. We decided to take the slow and steady route, and tried our best to confuse the overachieving runners by trying to convince them they were going the wrong way. It must have worked. Some of those runners actually arrived at the finish line after us. Plus they likely didn’t even take a Slurpee break. Suckers!

Jeff shows off his game face, and our honest Abe sketch

In summary, we did a lot right this year and had loads of fun. We are proud of our finish, and even more proud that we didn’t take what was basically a grown up scavenger hunt too seriously. Plus we drew a badass picture of Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, we know we rock.

For more information on Challenge Nation races in Denver and other locations, visit challengenation.com.